The explosion of two bombs yesterday at the Boston Marathon points out once again that we live in a dangerous world. The attack was not committed with guns or AK47’s or high capacity magazines. The attack was committed with explosive devices that injured, maimed, or killed countless innocent people. Those near the explosions who survived now have their lives changed forever.

As I sat watching the television accounts and seeing the explosion near the finish line, I wondered just how much hate must a person have in his or her heart to commit such a heinous act? In America we are taught tolerance for one another. We respect each other’s religious and political views. We hold free and open elections. We have a free market economy, and we applaud the ingenuity of the American people. Success is a good thing in America. In other parts of the world, the same cannot always be said. So why these tragedies occur is sometimes hard to comprehend.

There are those who are so miserable in their existence that they must take revenge on society. They want the attention and thrive on it. In these types of attacks, it is usually for a political or religious reason. Maybe it is a left wing or right wing cause, or possibly it is an act of war against our nation like 9/11. In other attacks some crazy person finally snaps completely, and it just makes no sense at all. It is killing for the sake of killing.

We must remain diligent as a nation. We must protect our shores and our people. We pride ourselves on our freedoms, and we should never do anything to compromise or lose them. At the same time we should never forget that we are at war against religious radicals and domestic nut jobs who want to bring down our nation.

The responsible party or parties will be caught and punished for what they have done. Whether this is domestic or foreign terrorism or foreign influenced, the facts don’t change. There are real crazies out there, and we need to stop them. For 1,000 planned acts of terrorism, our defenses must stop every one of them. For the terrorists only one of those acts needs to succeed. What the terrorists don’t comprehend is that they are up against the greatest nation in the history of man, and that at the end of the day America will stand tall – undefeated and unstoppable. God bless America!

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For thirty-four years Lawrence Chehardy served as Assessor of Jefferson Parish. He has been the leading authority on Louisiana’s property tax laws. In addition to his political commentary and public speaking engagements, Lawrence Chehardy is a founding member of the Chehardy, Sherman, Ellis, Murray, Recile, Griffith, Stakelum & Hayes Law Firm and serves as its managing partner.